What is the potential of combination vaccines?

The rise of anti-vaccination campaigns has in recent years had a detrimental effect on EU public health as “forgotten” diseases such as measles re-appeared in Europe, raising eyebrows among policymakers.

Multicomponent or combination vaccines cover 4 or 5 diseases at once and can reduce the number of necessary injections.

What are their benefits? Can they improve vaccination coverage and the protection of the population?

Multicomponent or combined vaccines are an indispensable tool to address the current public health challenges and Europe should, therefore, help unlock their potential, said Swedish MEP Christofer Fjellner.

The use of combination vaccines can bring about better vaccine coverage and this will improve protection of the public against vaccine-preventable diseases, reduce costs for treatment of these diseases and help prevent outbreaks that would otherwise occur, Mel Kohn told EURACTIV.com.

Combination vaccines represent a substantial outcome of a successful R&D to ease vaccination experience for everyone: children, parents and healthcare professionals while improving the protection of the public against vaccine-preventable diseases.